Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Updates FY24 Earnings Guidance

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) issued an update on its FY24 earnings guidance on Tuesday morning. The company provided EPS guidance of $7.94-$8.04 for the period, compared to the consensus EPS estimate of $8.16. The company issued revenue guidance of $63.4-$64.4 billion, compared to the consensus revenue estimate of $64.29 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. also updated its FY 2024 guidance to 7.940-8.040 EPS.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 2.0 %

Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock traded down $2.30 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $112.95. 14,192,612 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,524,914. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 0.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $286.08 billion, a PE ratio of 124.77, a P/E/G ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $127.75 and a 200-day moving average price of $126.66. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1-year low of $99.14 and a 1-year high of $134.63.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $2.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.16 by $0.12. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 14.05% and a net margin of 3.76%. The firm had revenue of $16.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.87 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted ($2.06) earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 7th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is currently 342.22%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an overweight rating and set a $155.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Tuesday, June 18th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $132.00 to $134.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Argus raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a strong-buy rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $125.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $134.83.

Merck & Co., Inc. Company Profile

Merck & Co, Inc operates as a healthcare company worldwide. It operates through two segments, Pharmaceutical and Animal Health. The Pharmaceutical segment offers human health pharmaceutical products in the areas of oncology, hospital acute care, immunology, neuroscience, virology, cardiovascular, and diabetes under the Keytruda, Bridion, Adempas, Lagevrio, Belsomra, Simponi, and Januvia brands, as well as vaccine products consisting of preventive pediatric, adolescent, and adult vaccines under the Gardasil/Gardasil 9, ProQuad, M-M-R II, Varivax, RotaTeq, Live Oral, Vaxneuvance, Pneumovax 23, and Vaqta names.